The Puffer Forum

I feed my gsp's trumpet and pond snails. My puffers seem to only suck out the snail, so I do not know how it is helping their beaks. Is there something else that can help to break down their beaks?

Well, there's a few things to look at.

First, the snails may be too big for the puffer to fit them in their mouth, which could be why they are sucking them out instead of biting and crushing the shell. A good guideline is the snail should be the same size as the puffer's eye, or smaller.

Second, if the puffer's teeth are already overgrown, they just may not be able to open up wide enough to get the snail in their mouth.

Third, if the snails are the right size and the teeth are just fine, they may just be lazy or haven't figured it out yet. Try partially crushing the snail in your fingers first before feeding it, so they have to bite into the shell as well as the meat.

You really should avoid the trumpet snails and stick to pond or ramshorn,, puffers can easily break a tooth on their extra hard shells and an infected tooth is not a fun time. Its not hurting them now since they are sucking the snails out, but if one should ever try to bite one.. ouch.